Starwood Lurker

I fully understood the problem. There was a technical issue that caused this to occur. It was reported to the appropriate teams at Starwood. Unfortunately, they were unable to fix it in time to help you.

That won't be necessary. If not for the technical issue, in this case, the room would have been available.

However, while we are on the other subject of whether all traditional/superior/insert category of standard rooms here are on the Free Night Award rate plan, 3Cforme is correct. They aren't. For example, there are two other separate accessible traditional room types at this very hotel that are not on their SPG5 rate plan. And, we have discussed this before, as indicated. The hotels decide what rooms go on the rate plan with assistance from SPG, so it is not done in a corner with no witnesses.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

craz

So why doesnt SPG book the OP a Premium room and deposit into their acct the difference in pts?

Starwood Lurker

Two reasons:

1) it wasn't requested as an option; best to do so offline if anyone finding themself in this situation wants to do so going forward
2) this hotel did not offer Specialty or Specialty Select award rooms for the date of travel mentioned

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

longtimereader firstimeposter

I actually spoke to two agents regarding this. The first agent told me she overrode me into a room and ended up booking at the Westin North Shore. The second agent told me there is no overriding for points like the first agent said and that "$279 is a good deal for a traditional room, I would recommend booking that".

It would have been nice, after potentially seeing the "technical error" on the Starwood page I would have been offered something else by either agents. I am around 85 nights this year at Westins but that obviously doesn't mean anything.

miloworld

So SPG admits to screwing up and is 100% the reason OP lost the opportunity to redeem/book that room and not going to do anything about it?

I also find free night awards kind of a scam, not as flexible as advertised. Hotels often set single-digit 'standard' rooms and anything else require calling the hotline and redeeming it at a higher rate.

Starwood Lurker

There isn't anything that can be done other than to apologize in some instances. There are no standard rooms available and the hotel is not offering award rooms for the travel date.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Furyleader

Of course there are no standard room available, that's because most SPG properties that do well on revenue rooms enhanced their standard rooms to more lavish names to go around the policy on award night with no blocking date. There's always a loophole in essence of policy and statement.

RogerD408

Every time I read issues that center around room names, I'm reminded of a trans-Canadian roadtrip as a kid decades ago. Outside one town (Winnipeg?) a motel sign listed "Flushing Toilets!". Needless to say where Mom insisted we stay! Marketing types are out to sell as much as possible for as little as possible.

craz

Im sure this happens but at hotels with few rooms. A hotel with 100s of rooms isnt going to be playing that game unless they know 100% that they will be able to fill the vast majority of their rooms As long as a hotel gets more $$ then it costs them to serivce the room why wouldnt they want the extra ca$h no matter how small an amount?

In the OPs case it seems they simply had a ton of bad luck, that that hotel did have Traditional rooms available but for some strange reason SPG didnt have it being allowed to claim as an award night, and when things got fixed there were no Tradional rooms left to be had even for $$.

I still feel SPG should have charged the OP the # of pts for a Traditional room and book and pay for the cheapest room still available and give that to the OP., OK as long as it wasnt a speciality room at a ridiculous rate

I would say if the hotel was soldout then not much could be done, but it wasnt soldout except for the Traditional rooms so it would have been nice had SPG stepped up and rectified it as I said above. Yrs ago SPG would have stepped up

metzgersdog26

Encountering this problem again for an early Aug stay at the Sheraton Dubrovnik. The dates are listed as available online under the Lowest Standard Rate, but when calling to book was told they could not be secured with points.

If I'm following Starwood Lurker correctly this is some IT glitch with the wrong type of room being available at the lowest standard rate? It's put me in a bit of a spot because I booked flights into Dubrovnik yesterday, after seeing online the hotel had availability at the lowest rate that I assumed could be booked with points.

What's the point of a no blackout guarantee if you can't actually book rooms that are listed as available?

Starwood Lurker

If you would like for us to look into this, send us the dates you are looking to book either to the email address below or via PM here at Flyertalk.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

mahasamatman

By definition, any room will always be available at the Lowest Standard Rate for that day. The rate is not relevant, only the room type is.

johnden

What are the SPG exemptions for free award nights when standard rooms are for sale?

I noticed the Westin Resort Whistler, BC is offering a lot of their most basic room type (Deluxe Studio) for sale on March 18, 2016, but is not offering point redemptions. I called Starwood and was told there was nothing they can do. The phone agent at the hotel I spoke with confirmed that the Deluxe Studio for sale is their most basic room.

Does SPG no longer require a hotel to offer point redemptions when standard rooms are available?

The phone supervisor never heard of this policy and was unaware of the requirement. If the computer says not available, it means not available.

eyeball1

I just checked March 18th, 2017 at the Westin Whistler. The Deluxe studio room they have available for that night is Mountain view, which is not classified as their base room, and as such is not available for points.

TerryK

Common issue. There are sub-categories within Deluxe Studio as pointed out by eyeball1. You need to click on Select Your Rate to see sub-categories. West Whistler does not have basic room available for sale on March 18, hence no redemption.